Thursday, September 4, 2014

History of Freemasonry in Delhi

A chance encounter opens a portal to the history of Freemasonry in Delhi, shrouded in myths and mysteries

On a hot Monday afternoon, when clouds were looming
large on the horizon but holding back the rain, there was a knock on the
door of a neighbour’s flat. It was a young man dressed in a black coat
and trousers, with dark-rimmed spectacles covering almost half his face,
who introduced himself as Udayan. He had come to discuss the virtues of
Freemasonry after reading an article by the neighbour, who had
expressed some doubts.

It was Sir Thomas Metcalfe,
the mid-19th century British Resident in Delhi, who had become curious
about Freemasonry (with its weird rituals and symbols) and invited some
members of the secret guild to Metcalfe House, now a DRDO (Defence
Research and Development Organisation) office. The meeting took place in
the basement, which is now lying vacant and is described by some as
haunted.

The scientists, however, are sceptical but
other staff is not above believing the gossip. In the past some
chowkidars had heard voices, interrupted by screams, in the basement and
the clanking of an iron chain as though a prisoner were being led to
his execution. Dr. T. N. Upadhyay, an ex-DRDO scientist, confirmed that
he had heard some such stories though he found it hard to believe them.
However, he also confirmed that the basement was used after the Revolt
of 1857 to interrogate and punish freedom fighters. History books say
that Sir Thomas’s heir, Sir Theophilus Metcalfe, who had to seek refuge
in Rajputana to save his life after his ancestral house was attacked and
badly damaged, was prosecutor and judge combined. “The ghosts of the
dead still haunt the basement,” said a credulous employee.

Obviously
Freemasonry had nothing to do with ghostly tales. Udayan asserted that
it was a fraternal organisation whose annual membership fee in the
Capital was about Rs 6,500 at which, besides lectures and seminars, one
was assured of good lunches and dinners, plus amiable company of the
cream of society. His take was that Freemasonry started a long time
back, during the days when the Pyramids were being built in Egypt,
though the organisation came into its own when the Grand Temple in
Jerusalem had been constructed by Solomon the Magnificent 3000 years ago
and hence its biblical affiliations. After completing the building the
workers decided to form a guild of Freemasons (freed from the project
assigned to them). It was then that Hiram Habif, the master-builder from
Tyre, was murdered because Solomon wanted the bejewelled secret Word of
God worn by Habif on his covered forehead, which was later buried at
the base of the temple.

In the Middle Ages
Freemasonry began to make its presence felt in Europe with the coming up
of Lodges, particularly in England and then in the USA, notwithstanding
Edgar Allen Poe’s horror story, “The Pit and the Pendulum” about a
traitor’s end. Significantly there are no women members of the guild. In
India the British set up the first Lodge at Fort William, Calcutta in
1728-29 (year of Masonry 5732). Among the members were rajas, nawabs,
judges, lawyers, doctors, professors, civil and military officers and
other elite. In Delhi, Lodge Star was consecrated in 1857 but was
“washed off” during the Revolt. It was resuscitated in 1861 but erased
in 1864. Next year Lodge Phoenix was established. In 1872 it was
replaced by Lodge Jamuna, which held its meetings in Daryaganj, Jamuna
Road and Mori Gate. In 1889 the Lodge was moved to a permanent rent-free
site in Qudsia Garden, where it stays. People living nearby started
calling it Jadoo Ghar (house of magic) because of late-night meetings by
men in black. On 24 November, 1961 The Grand Lodge of India was
consecrated at Ashoka Hotel and three days later the Regional Grand
Lodge of Northern India came up at the Freemasons’ Hall, New Delhi,
while at Agra Very Worthy Brother K. N. Wason (a famous shoe
manufacturers and exporter) headed Lodge Star. Mathura had its Lodge
Ligonier.

The visitor in black to MIG Flats was at
pains to demolish damaging myths about Freemasonry. The guild, informed
Udayan, works to further humanitarian causes — health, education,
charity and calamity relief. Besides, the Nizam, the Nawabs of Rampur,
Chatthari and Pataudi, C. Rajagopalachari and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed were
among its members. When the visitor left he shook hands in a strange way
(by which Freemasons worldwide recognise each other), leaving behind a
buzzing mystery that helped the neighbour to overcome the languor of an
intensely humid day all right.

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